MacWorld 1996 July/Macworld (1996-07).dmg/Shareware World/Communication/WarpSearch CGI 1.0/The_Bible/2samuel.txt

Text File | 1996-04-13 | 112KB | 2,102 lines

The next file is: 2SAMUEL
1:1 Now it came to pass after the death of Saul, when David had
 returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and David had
 abode two days in Ziklag;
1:2 It came even to pass on the third day, that behold, a man
 came out of the camp from Saul with his clothes rent, and earth
 upon his head: and [so] it was, when he came to David, that he
 fell to the earth, and did obeisance.
1:3 And David said to him, From whence comest thou? And he said
 to him, Out of the camp of Israel have I escaped.
1:4 And David said to him, How went the matter? I pray thee,
 tell me. And he answered, That the people have fled from the
 battle, and many of the people also have fallen, and are dead;
 and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also.
1:5 And David said to the young man that told him, How knowest
 thou that Saul and Jonathan his son are dead?
1:6 And the young man that told him said, As I happened by
 chance upon mount Gilboa, behold, Saul leaned upon his spear;
 and lo, the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him.
1:7 And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called to me.
 And I answered, Here [am] I.
1:8 And he said to me, Who [art] thou? And I answered him, I
 [am] an Amalekite.
1:9 He said to me again, Stand, I pray thee, upon me, and slay
 me: for anguish is come upon me, because my life [is] yet whole
 in me.
1:10 So I stood upon him, and slew him, because I was sure that
 he could not live after that he had fallen: and I took the
 crown that [was] upon his head, and the bracelet that [was] on
 his arm, and have brought them hither to my lord.
1:11 Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and
 likewise all the men that [were] with him:
1:12 And they mourned and wept, and fasted until evening, for
 Saul and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the LORD,
 and for the house of Israel; because they had fallen by the
 sword.
1:13 And David said to the young man that told him, Whence [art]
 thou? And he answered, I [am] the son of a stranger, an
 Amalekite.
1:14 And David said to him, How wast thou not afraid to stretch
 forth thy hand to destroy the LORD'S anointed?
1:15 And David called one of the young men, and said, Go near,
 [and] fall upon him. And he smote him that he died.
1:16 And David said to him, Thy blood [be] upon thy head; for
 thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the
 LORD'S anointed.
1:17 And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul, and
 over Jonathan his son:
1:18 (Also he bade them teach the children of Judah [the use of]
 the bow: behold, [it is] written in the book of Jasher.)
1:19 The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places: how are
 the mighty fallen!
1:20 Tell [it] not in Gath, publish [it] not in the streets of
 Askelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest
 the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.
1:21 Ye mountains of Gilboa, [let there be] no dew, neither rain
 upon you, nor fields of offerings: for there the shield of the
 mighty is vilely cast away, the shield of Saul, [as though he
 had] not [been] anointed with oil.
1:22 From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty,
 the bow of Jonathan turned not back, and the sword of Saul
 returned not empty.
1:23 Saul and Jonathan [were] lovely and pleasant in their
 lives, and in their death they were not divided: they were
 swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.
1:24 Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in
 scarlet, with [other] delights, who put ornaments of gold upon
 your apparel.
1:25 How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O
 Jonathan [thou wast] slain in thy high places.
1:26 I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very
 pleasant hast thou been to me: thy love to me was wonderful,
 passing the love of women.
1:27 How have the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war
 perished!
2:1 And it came to pass after this, that David inquired of the
 LORD, saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?
 And the LORD said to him, Go up. And David said, Whither shall
 I go up? And he said, To Hebron.
2:2 So David went up thither, and his two wives also, Ahinoam
 the Jezreelitess, and Abigail, Nabal's wife the Carmelite.
2:3 And his men that [were] with him did David bring up, every
 man with his household: and they dwelt in the cities of Hebron.
2:4 And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David
 king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying,
 [That] the men of Jabesh-gilead [were they] that buried Saul.
2:5 And David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead, and
 said to them, Blessed [be] ye of the LORD, that ye have shown
 this kindness to your lord, [even] to Saul, and have buried
 him.
2:6 And now the LORD show kindness and truth to you: and I also
 will requite you this kindness, because ye have done this
 thing.
2:7 Therefore now let your hands be strengthened, and be ye
 valiant: for your master Saul is dead, and also the house of
 Judah have anointed me king over them.
2:8 But Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul's host, took
 Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim;
2:9 And he made him king over Gilead, and over the Ashurites,
 and over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over
 all Israel.
2:10 Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, [was] forty years old when he
 began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years: but the
 house of Judah followed David.
2:11 And the time that David was king in Hebron, over the house
 of Judah, was seven years and six months.
2:12 And Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ish-bosheth
 the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.
2:13 And Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David went
 out, and met together by the pool of Gibeon: and they sat down,
 the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the other
 side of the pool.
2:14 And Abner said to Joab, Let the young men now arise, and
 play before us. And Joab said, Let them arise.
2:15 Then there arose, and went over by number twelve of
 Benjamin, who [pertained] to Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and
 twelve of the servants of David.
2:16 And they caught every one his fellow by the head, and
 [thrust] his sword in his fellow's side: so they fell down
 together: wherefore that place was called Helkath-hazzurim,
 which [is] in Gibeon.
2:17 And there was a very severe battle that day; and Abner was
 defeated, and the men of Israel, before the servants of David.
2:18 And there were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab, and
 Abishai, and Asahel: and Asahel [was as] light of foot as a
 wild roe.
2:19 And Asahel pursued after Abner; and in going he turned not
 to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner.
2:20 Then Abner looked behind him, and said, [Art] thou Asahel?
 And he answered, I [am].
2:21 And Abner said to him, Turn thee aside to thy right hand or
 to thy left, and lay hold on one of the young men, and take to
 thee his armor. But Asahel would not turn aside from following
 him.
2:22 And Abner said again to Asahel, Turn thee aside from
 following me: Why should I smite thee to the ground? how then
 should I hold up my face to Joab thy brother?
2:23 But he refused to turn aside: wherefore Abner with the
 hinder end of the spear smote him under the fifth [rib], that
 the spear came out behind him; and he fell down there, and died
 in the same place: and it came to pass, [that] as many as came
 to the place where Asahel fell down and died, stood still.
2:24 Joab also, and Abishai pursued Abner: and the sun went down
 when they had come to the hill of Ammah, that [lieth] before
 Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon.
2:25 And the children of Benjamin assembled themselves after
 Abner, and became one troop, and stood on the top of a hill.
2:26 Then Abner called to Joab, and said, Shall the sword devour
 for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the
 latter end? how long shall it be then, ere thou wilt bid the
 people return from following their brethren?
2:27 And Joab said, [As] God liveth, unless thou hadst spoken,
 surely then in the morning the people had gone up every one
 from following his brother.
2:28 So Joab blew a trumpet, and all the people stood still, and
 pursued Israel no more, neither fought they any more.
2:29 And Abner and his men walked all that night through the
 plain, and passed over Jordan, and went through all Bithron,
 and they came to Mahanaim.
2:30 And Joab returned from following Abner: and when he had
 assembled all the people, there lacked of David's servants
 nineteen men, and Asahel.
2:31 But the servants of David had smitten of Benjamin, and of
 Abner's men, [so that] three hundred and sixty men died.
2:32 And they took up Asahel, and buried him in the sepulcher of
 his father, which [was in] Beth-lehem. And Joab and his men
 went all night, and they came to Hebron at break of day.
3:1 Now there was long war between the house of Saul and the
 house of David: but David grew stronger and stronger, and the
 house of Saul became weaker and weaker.
3:2 And to David were sons born in Hebron: and his first-born
 was Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess;
3:3 And his second, Chileab, of Abigail the wife of Nabal the
 Carmelite; and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah, the
 daughter of Talmai king of Geshur;
3:4 And the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; and the fifth,
 Shephatiah the son of Abital;
3:5 And the sixth, Ithream, by Eglah David's wife. These were
 born to David in Hebron.
3:6 And it came to pass, while there was war between the house
 of Saul and the house of David, that Abner made himself strong
 for the house of Saul.
3:7 And Saul had a concubine, whose name [was] Rizpah, the
 daughter of Aiah: and [Ish-bosheth] said to Abner, Why hast
 thou gone in to my father's concubine?
3:8 Then was Abner very wroth for the words of Ish-bosheth, and
 said, [Am] I a dog's head, who against Judah do show kindness
 this day to the house of Saul thy father, to his brethren, and
 to his friends, and have not delivered thee into the hand of
 David, that thou chargest me to-day with a fault concerning
 this woman?
3:9 So do God to Abner, and more also, except, as the LORD hath
 sworn to David, even so I do to him;
3:10 To translate the kingdom from the house of Saul, and to set
 up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan
 even to Beer-sheba.
3:11 And he could not answer Abner a word again, because he
 feared him.
3:12 And Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf, saying,
 Whose [is] the land? saying [also], Make thy league with me,
 and behold, my hand [shall be] with thee, to bring about all
 Israel to thee.
3:13 And he said, Well; I will make a league with thee: but one
 thing I require of thee, that is, Thou shalt not see my face,
 except thou shalt first bring Michal, Saul's daughter, when
 thou comest to see my face.
3:14 And David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth, Saul's son,
 saying, Deliver to [me] my wife Michal, whom I espoused to me
 for a hundred foreskins of the Philistines.
3:15 And Ish-bosheth sent, and took her from [her] husband,
 [even] from Phaltiel the son of Laish.
3:16 And her husband went with her, weeping behind her to
 Bahurim. Then said Abner to him, Go, return. And he returned.
3:17 And Abner had communication with the elders of Israel,
 saying, Ye sought for David in times past [to be] king over
 you:
3:18 Now then do [it]: for the LORD hath spoken of David,
 saying, By the hand of my servant David I will save my people
 Israel from the hand of the Philistines, and from the hand of
 all their enemies.
3:19 And Abner also spoke in the ears of Benjamin: and Abner
 went also to speak in the ears of David in Hebron all that
 seemed good to Israel, and that seemed good to the whole house
 of Benjamin.
3:20 So Abner came to David in Hebron, and twenty men with him:
 and David made Abner and the men that [were] with him, a feast.
3:21 And Abner said to David, I will arise and go, and will
 gather all Israel to my lord the king, that they may make a
 league with thee, and that thou mayest reign over all that thy
 heart desireth. And David sent Abner away; and he went in
 peace.
3:22 And behold, the servants of David and Joab came from
 [pursuing] a troop, and brought in a great spoil with them: but
 Abner [was] not with David in Hebron; for he had sent him away,
 and he had gone in peace.
3:23 When Joab and all the host that [was] with him had come,
 they told Joab, saying, Abner the son of Ner came to the king,
 and he hath sent him away, and he hath gone in peace.
3:24 Then Joab came to the king, and said, What hast thou done?
 behold, Abner came to thee; why [is] it [that] thou hast sent
 him away, and he is quite gone?
3:25 Thou knowest Abner the son of Ner, that he came to deceive
 thee, and to know thy going-out and thy coming-in, and to know
 all that thou doest.
3:26 And when Joab had come out from David, he sent messengers
 after Abner, who brought him again from the well of Sirah: but
 David knew [it] not.
3:27 And when Abner had returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside
 in the gate to speak with him quietly, and smote him there
 under the fifth [rib] that he died, for the blood of Asahel his
 brother.
3:28 And afterward when David heard [it], he said, I and my
 kingdom [are] guiltless before the LORD for ever from the blood
 of Abner the son of Ner:
3:29 Let it rest on the head of Joab, and on all his father's
 house; and let there not fail from the house of Joab one that
 hath an issue, or that is a leper, or that leaneth on a staff,
 or that falleth on the sword, or that lacketh bread.
3:30 So Joab and Abishai his brother slew Abner, because he had
 slain their brother Asahel at Gibeon in the battle.
3:31 And David said to Joab, and to all the people that [were]
 with him, Rend your clothes, and gird you with sackcloth, and
 mourn before Abner. And king David [himself] followed the bier.
3:32 And they buried Abner in Hebron: and the king lifted up his
 voice and wept at the grave of Abner; and all the people wept.
3:33 And the king lamented over Abner, and said, Died Abner as a
 fool dieth?
3:34 Thy hands [were] not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters:
 as a man falleth before wicked men, [so] fellest thou. And all
 the people wept again over him.
3:35 And when all the people came to cause David to eat food
 while it was yet day, David swore, saying, So do God to me, and
 more also, If I taste bread or aught else, till the sun is
 down.
3:36 And all the people took notice [of it], and it pleased
 them: as what ever the king did pleased all the people.
3:37 For all the people and all Israel understood that day that
 it was not of the king to slay Abner the son of Ner.
3:38 And the king said to his servants, Know ye not that there
 hath a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel?
3:39 And I [am] this day weak, though anointed king; and these
 men the sons of Zeruiah [are] too hard for me. The LORD shall
 reward the doer of evil according to his wickedness.
4:1 And when Saul's son heard that Abner was dead in Hebron, his
 hands were feeble, and all the Israelites were troubled.
4:2 And Saul's son had two men [that were] captains of bands:
 the name of the one [was] Baanah, and the name of the other
 Rechab, the sons of Rimmon a Beerothite, of the children of
 Benjamin: (For Beeroth also was reckoned to Benjamin:
4:3 And the Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and have been
 sojourners there until this day.)
4:4 And Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son [that was] lame of [his]
 feet: he was five years old when the tidings came of Saul and
 Jonathan out of Jezreel, and his nurse took him up, and fled:
 and it came to pass, as she made haste to flee, that he fell,
 and became lame. And his name [was] Mephibosheth.
4:5 And the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah,
 went, and came about the heat of the day to the house of
 Ish-bosheth, who lay on a bed at noon.
4:6 And they came thither into the midst of the house, [as
 though] they would have fetched wheat; and they smote him under
 the fifth [rib]: and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped.
4:7 For when they came into the house, he lay on his bed in his
 bed-chamber, and they smote him, and slew him, and beheaded
 him, and took his head, and went away through the plain all
 night.
4:8 And they brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David to Hebron,
 and said to the king, Behold the head of Ish-bosheth the son of
 Saul thy enemy, who sought thy life; and the LORD hath avenged
 my lord the king this day of Saul and of his seed.
4:9 And David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons
 of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, [As] the LORD
 liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity,
4:10 When one told me, saying, Behold, Saul is dead, (thinking
 to have brought good tidings,) I took hold of him, and slew him
 in Ziklag, who [thought] that I would have given him a reward
 for his tidings:
4:11 How much more, when wicked men have slain a righteous
 person in his own house upon his bed? shall I not therefore now
 require his blood of your hand, and take you away from the
 earth?
4:12 And David commanded his young men, and they slew them, and
 cut off their hands and their feet, and hanged [them] over the
 pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth, and
 buried [it] in the sepulcher of Abner in Hebron.
5:1 Then came all the tribes of Israel to David to Hebron, and
 spoke, saying, Behold, we [are] thy bone and thy flesh.
5:2 Also in time past, when Saul was king over us, thou wast he
 that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and the LORD said to
 thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be a
 captain over Israel.
5:3 So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and
 king David made a league with them in Hebron before the LORD:
 and they anointed David king over Israel.
5:4 David [was] thirty years old when he began to reign, [and]
 he reigned forty years.
5:5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months:
 and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all
 Israel and Judah.
5:6 And the king and his men went to Jerusalem to the Jebusites,
 the inhabitants of the land: who spoke to David, saying, Except
 thou shalt take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not
 come in hither: thinking, David cannot come in hither.
5:7 Nevertheless, David took the strong hold of Zion: the same
 [is] the city of David.
5:8 And David said on that day, Whoever getteth up to the
 gutter, and smiteth the Jebusites, and the lame and the blind,
 [that are] hated by David's soul, [he shall be chief and
 captain]: Wherefore they said, The blind and the lame shall not
 come into the house.
5:9 So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David.
 And David built around from Millo and inward.
5:10 And David went on, and grew great, and the LORD God of
 hosts [was] with him.
5:11 And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and
 cedar-trees, and carpenters, and masons: and they built David a
 house.
5:12 And David perceived that the LORD had established him king
 over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people
 Israel's sake.
5:13 And David took [him] more concubines and wives out of
 Jerusalem, after he had come from Hebron: and there were yet
 sons and daughters born to David.
5:14 And these [are] the names of those that were born to him in
 Jerusalem; Shammuah, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon,
5:15 Ibhar also, and Elishua, and Nepheg, and Japhia,
5:16 And Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphalet.
5:17 But when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David
 king over Israel, all the Philistines came up to seek David;
 and David heard [of it], and went down to the hold.
5:18 The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the
 valley of Rephaim.
5:19 And David inquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up to
 the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into my hand? And the
 LORD said to David, Go up: for I will doubtless deliver the
 Philistines into thy hand.
5:20 And David came to Baal-perazim, and David smote them there,
 and said, The LORD hath broken forth upon my enemies before me,
 as the breach of waters. Therefore he called the name of that
 place Baal-perazim.
5:21 And there they left their images, and David and his men
 burned them.
5:22 And the Philistines came yet again, and spread themselves
 in the valley of Rephaim.
5:23 And when David inquired of the LORD, he said, Thou shalt
 not go up: [but] fetch a compass behind them, and come upon
 them over against the mulberry-trees.
5:24 And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in
 the tops of the mulberry-trees, that then thou shalt bestir
 thyself: for then shall the LORD go out before thee, to smite
 the host of the Philistines.
5:25 And David did so as the LORD had commanded him; and smote
 the Philistines from Geba until thou comest to Gazer.
6:1 Again, David assembled all [the] chosen [men] of Israel,
 thirty thousand,
6:2 And David arose, and went with all the people that [were]
 with him from Baale of Judah, to bring up from thence the ark
 of God, whose name is called by the name of the LORD of hosts
 that dwelleth [between] the cherubim.
6:3 And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it
 out of the house of Abinadab that [was] in Gibeah: and Uzzah
 and Ahio the sons of Abinadab drove the new cart.
6:4 And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which
 [was] at Gibeah, accompanying the ark of God: and Ahio went
 before the ark.
6:5 And David and all the house of Israel played before the LORD
 on all manner of [instruments made of] fir wood, even on harps,
 and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on
 cymbals.
6:6 And when they came to Nachon's threshing-floor, Uzzah put
 forth [his hand] to the ark of God, and took hold of it: for
 the oxen shook [it].
6:7 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah, and God
 smote him there for [his] error; and there he died by the ark
 of God.
6:8 And David was displeased, because the LORD had made a breach
 upon Uzzah: and he called the name of the place Perez-uzzah to
 this day.
6:9 And David was afraid of the LORD that day, and said, How
 shall the ark of the LORD come to me?
6:10 So David would not remove the ark of the LORD to him into
 the city of David: but David carried it aside into the house of
 Obed-edom the Gittite.
6:11 And the ark of the LORD continued in the house of Obed-edom
 the Gittite three months: and the LORD blessed Obed-edom and
 all his household.
6:12 And it was told king David, saying, The LORD hath blessed
 the house of Obed-edom, and all that [pertaineth] to him,
 because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark
 of God from the house of Obed-edom into the city of David with
 gladness.
6:13 And it was [so], that when they that bore the ark of the
 LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed oxen and fatlings.
6:14 And David danced before the LORD with all [his] might; and
 David [was] girded with a linen ephod.
6:15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of
 the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.
6:16 And as the ark of the LORD came into the city of David,
 Michal, Saul's daughter, looked through a window, and saw king
 David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him
 in her heart.
6:17 And they brought in the ark of the LORD, and set it in its
 place, in the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched
 for it: and David offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings
 before the LORD.
6:18 And as soon as David had made an end of offering
 burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, he blessed the people in
 the name of the LORD of hosts.
6:19 And he dealt among all the people, [even] among the whole
 multitude of Israel, as well to the women as men, to every one
 a cake of bread, and a good piece [of flesh], and a flagon [of
 wine]. So all the people departed every one to his house.
6:20 Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the
 daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, How glorious
 was the king of Israel to-day, who uncovered himself to-day in
 the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain
 fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself!
6:21 And David said to Michal, [It was] before the LORD, who
 chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to
 appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel:
 therefore will I play before the LORD.
6:22 And I shall yet be more vile than thus, and shall be base
 in my own sight: and by the maid-servants which thou hast
 spoken of, by them shall I be had in honor.
6:23 Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child until
 the day of her death.
7:1 And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the
 LORD had given him rest around from all his enemies;
7:2 That the king said to Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell
 in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within
 curtains.
7:3 And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that [is] in thy
 heart: for the LORD [is] with thee.
7:4 And it came to pass that night, that the word of the LORD
 came to Nathan, saying,
7:5 Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Wilt thou
 build me a house for me to dwell in?
7:6 Whereas I have not dwelt in [any] house since the time that
 I brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this
 day, but have walked in a tent, and in a tabernacle.
7:7 In all [the places] in which I have walked with all the
 children of Israel have I spoken a word with any of the tribes
 of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying,
 Why do ye not build me a house of cedar?
7:8 Now therefore so shalt thou say to my servant David, thus
 saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheep-cote, from
 following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel:
7:9 And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut
 off all thy enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a
 great name, like to the name of the great [men] that [are] in
 the earth.
7:10 Moreover, I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and
 will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own,
 and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness
 afflict them any more, as formerly.
7:11 And as since the time that I commanded judges [to be] over
 my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thy
 enemies. Also the LORD telleth thee that he will make thee a
 house.
7:12 And when thy days shall be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep
 with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which
 shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his
 kingdom.
7:13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish
 the throne of his kingdom for ever.
7:14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he shall
 commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and
 with the stripes of the children of men:
7:15 But my mercy shall not depart from him, as I took [it] from
 Saul, whom I put away before thee.
7:16 And thy house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever
 before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.
7:17 According to all these words, and according to all this
 vision, so did Nathan speak to David.
7:18 Then king David went in, and sat before the LORD, and he
 said, Who [am] I, O LORD God? and what [is] my house, that thou
 hast brought me hitherto;
7:19 And this was yet a small thing in thy sight, O LORD God;
 but thou hast spoken also of thy servant's house for a great
 while to come. And [is] this the manner of man, O LORD God?
7:20 And what can David say more to thee? for thou, LORD God,
 knowest thy servant.
7:21 For thy word's sake, and according to thy own heart, hast
 thou done all these great things, to make thy servant know
 [them].
7:22 Wherefore thou art great, O LORD God: for [there is] none
 like thee, neither [is there any] God besides thee, according
 to all that we have heard with our ears.
7:23 And what one nation in the earth [is] like thy people,
 [even] like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to
 himself, and to make him a name, and to do for you great things
 and terrible, for thy land, before thy people which thou
 redeemedst to thee from Egypt, [from] the nations and their
 gods?
7:24 For thou hast confirmed to thyself thy people Israel [to
 be] a people to thee for ever: and thou, LORD, art become their
 God.
7:25 And now, O LORD God, the word that thou hast spoken
 concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, establish
 [it] for ever, and do as thou hast said.
7:26 And let thy name be magnified for ever, saying, The LORD of
 hosts [is] the God over Israel: and let the house of thy
 servant David be established before thee.
7:27 For thou, O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to
 thy servant, saying, I will build thee a house: therefore hath
 thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer to thee.
7:28 And now, O LORD God, thou [art] that God, and thy words are
 true, and thou hast promised this goodness to thy servant:
7:29 Therefore now let it please thee to bless the house of thy
 servant, that it may continue for ever before thee: for thou, O
 LORD God, hast spoken [it]: and with thy blessing let the house
 of thy servant be blessed for ever.
8:1 And after this it came to pass, that David smote the
 Philistines, and subdued them: and David took Metheg-ammah out
 of the hand of the Philistines.
8:2 And he smote Moab, and measured them with a line, casting
 them down to the ground; even with two lines he measured to put
 to death, and with one full line to keep alive. And [so] the
 Moabites became David's servants, [and] brought gifts.
8:3 David smote also Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah,
 as he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates.
8:4 And David took from him a thousand [chariots], and seven
 hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: and David
 houghed all the chariot-[horses], but reserved of them [for] a
 hundred chariots.
8:5 And when the Syrians of Damascus came to succor Hadadezer
 king of Zobah, David slew of the Syrians two and twenty
 thousand men.
8:6 Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus: and the
 Syrians became servants to David, [and] brought gifts. And the
 LORD preserved David whithersoever he went.
8:7 And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants
 of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem.
8:8 And from Betah, and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, king
 David took very much brass.
8:9 When Toi king of Hamath heard that David had smitten all the
 host of Hadadezer,
8:10 Then Toi sent Joram his son to king David, to salute him,
 and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer, and
 smitten him: (for Hadadezer had wars with Toi) and [Joram]
 brought with him vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and
 vessels of brass:
8:11 Which also king David dedicated to the LORD, with the
 silver and gold that he had dedicated of all nations which he
 subdued;
8:12 Of Syria, and of Moab, and of the children of Ammon, and of
 the Philistines, and of Amalek, and of the spoil of Hadadezer
 son of Rehob, king of Zobah.
8:13 And David made [him] a name when he returned from smiting
 of the Syrians in the valley of Salt, [being] eighteen thousand
 [men].
8:14 And he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put
 garrisons, and all they of Edom became David's servants. And
 the LORD preserved David whithersoever he went.
8:15 And David reigned over all Israel; and David executed
 judgment and justice to all his people.
8:16 And Joab the son of Zeruiah [was] over the host; and
 Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud [was] recorder;
8:17 And Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech the son of
 Abiathar, [were] the priests: and Seraiah [was] the scribe;
8:18 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada [was over] both the
 Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David's sons were chief
 rulers.
9:1 And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house
 of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?
9:2 And [there was] of the house of Saul a servant whose name
 [was] Ziba. And when they had called him to David, the king
 said to him, [Art] thou Ziba? And he said, Thy servant [is he].
9:3 And the king said, [Is] there not yet any of the house of
 Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him? and Ziba said
 to the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, [who is] lame in [his]
 feet.
9:4 And the king said to him, Where [is] he? And Ziba said to
 the king, Behold, he [is] in the house of Machir, the son of
 Ammiel, in Lo-debar.
9:5 Then king David sent, and brought him from the house of
 Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lo-debar.
9:6 Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul,
 had come to David, he fell on his face, and did reverence. And
 David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold thy servant!
9:7 And David said to him, Fear not: for I will surely show thee
 kindness for the sake of Jonathan thy father, and will restore
 thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread
 at my table continually.
9:8 And he bowed himself, and said, What [is] thy servant, that
 thou shouldst look upon such a dead dog as I [am]?
9:9 Then the king called to Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to
 him, I have given to thy master's son all that pertained to
 Saul, and to all his house.
9:10 Thou therefore, and thy sons, and thy servants, shall till
 the land for him, and thou shalt bring in [the fruits], that
 thy master's son may have food to eat: but Mephibosheth thy
 master's son shall eat bread always at my table. Now Ziba had
 fifteen sons and twenty servants.
9:11 Then said Ziba to the king, According to all that my lord
 the king hath commanded his servant, so shall thy servant do.
 As for Mephibosheth, [said the king], he shall eat at my table,
 as one of the king's sons.
9:12 And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name [was] Micah.
 And all that dwelt in the house of Ziba [were] servants to
 Mephibosheth.
9:13 So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem: for he ate continually
 at the king's table; and was lame in both his feet.
10:1 And it came to pass after this, that the king of the
 children of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his stead.
10:2 Then said David, I will show kindness to Hanun the son of
 Nahash, as his father showed kindness to me. And David sent to
 comfort him by the hand of his servants for his father. And
 David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon.
10:3 And the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun
 their lord, Thinkest thou that David doth honor thy father,
 that he hath sent comforters to thee? hath not David [rather]
 sent his servants to thee, to search the city, and to spy it
 out, and to overthrow it?
10:4 Wherefore Hanun took David's servants, and shaved off the
 one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the
 middle, [even] to their buttocks, and sent them away.
10:5 When they told [it] to David, he sent to meet them, because
 the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, Tarry at
 Jericho until your beards are grown, and [then] return.
10:6 And when the children of Ammon saw that they had made
 themselves odious before David, the children of Ammon sent and
 hired the Syrians of Beth-rehob, and the Syrians of Zoba,
 twenty thousand footmen, and of king Maacah a thousand men, and
 of Ish-tob twelve thousand men.
10:7 And when David heard of [it], he sent Joab, and all the
 host of the mighty men.
10:8 And the children of Ammon came out, and put the battle in
 array at the entrance of the gate: and the Syrians of Zoba, and
 of Rehob, and Ish-tob, and Maacah, [were] by themselves in the
 field.
10:9 When Joab saw that the front of the battle was against him
 before and behind, he selected of all the choice [men] of
 Israel, and put [them] in array against the Syrians:
10:10 And the rest of the people he delivered into the hand of
 Abishai his brother, that he might put [them] in array against
 the children of Ammon.
10:11 And he said, If the Syrians shall be too strong for me,
 then thou shalt help me: but if the children of Ammon shall be
 too strong for thee, then I will come and help thee.
10:12 Be of good courage, and let us play the men for our
 people, and for the cities of our God: and the LORD do that
 which seemeth him good.
10:13 And Joab and the people that [were] with him drew near to
 the battle against the Syrians: and they fled before him.
10:14 And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians had
 fled, then fled they also before Abishai, and entered into the
 city. So Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to
 Jerusalem.
10:15 And when the Syrians saw that they were smitten before
 Israel, they assembled themselves.
10:16 And Hadarezer sent, and brought out the Syrians that
 [were] beyond the river: and they came to Helam; and Shobach
 the captain of the host of Hadarezer [went] before them.
10:17 And when it was told David, he assembled all Israel, and
 passed over Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Syrians set
 themselves in array against David, and fought with him.
10:18 And the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew [the
 men of] seven hundred chariots of the Syrians, and forty
 thousand horsemen, and smote Shobach the captain of their host,
 who died there.
10:19 And when all the kings [that were] servants to Hadarezer
 saw that they were smitten before Israel, they made peace with
 Israel, and served them. So the Syrians feared to help the
 children of Ammon any more.
11:1 And it came to pass, after the year had expired, at the
 time when kings go forth [to battle], that David sent Joab, and
 his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the
 children of Ammon, and destroyed Rabbah. But David tarried
 still at Jerusalem.
11:2 And it came to pass in an evening, that David arose from
 off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and
 from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman
 [was] very beautiful to look upon.
11:3 And David sent and inquired after the woman. And [one]
 said, [Is] not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife
 of Uriah the Hittite?
11:4 And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in to
 him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her
 uncleanness: and she returned to her house.
11:5 And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said,
 I [am] with child.
11:6 And David sent to Joab, [saying], Send me Uriah the
 Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David.
11:7 And when Uriah had come to him, David inquired [of him] how
 Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered.
11:8 And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house, and wash thy
 feet. And Uriah departed out of the king's house, and there
 followed him a mess [of meat] from the king.
11:9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all
 the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house.
11:10 And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down
 to his house, David said to Uriah, Camest thou not from [thy]
 journey? why [then] didst thou not go down to thy house?
11:11 And Uriah said to David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah,
 abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord
 are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into my house,
 to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? [as] thou livest,
 and [as] thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing.
11:12 And David said to Uriah, Tarry here to-day also, and
 to-morrow I will let thee depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem
 that day and the morrow.
11:13 And when David had called him, he ate and drank before
 him; and he made him drunk: and at evening he went out to lie
 on his bed with the servants of his lord, but went not down to
 his house.
11:14 And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a
 letter to Joab, and sent [it] by the hand of Uriah.
11:15 And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the
 front of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he
 may be smitten, and die.
11:16 And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city, that he
 assigned Uriah to a place where he knew that valiant men
 [were].
11:17 And the men of the city went out, and fought with Joab:
 and there fell [some] of the people of the servants of David;
 and Uriah the Hittite died also.
11:18 Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning
 the war;
11:19 And charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast made an
 end of telling the matters of the war to the king,
11:20 And if the king's wrath shall rise, and he shall say to
 thee, Why approached ye so nigh to the city for the fight? knew
 ye not that they would shoot from the wall?
11:21 Who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? did not a
 woman cast a piece of a millstone upon him from the wall, that
 he died in Thebez? why went ye nigh the wall? then say thou,
 Thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.
11:22 So the messenger went, and came and showed David all that
 Joab had sent him for.
11:23 And the messenger said to David, Surely the men prevailed
 against us, and came out to us into the field, and we were upon
 them even to the entrance of the gate.
11:24 And the shooters shot from off the wall upon thy servants:
 and [some] of the king's servants are dead, and thy servant
 Uriah the Hittite is dead also.
11:25 Then David said to the messenger, Thus shalt thou say to
 Joab, Let not this thing displease thee, for the sword
 devoureth one as well as another: make thy battle more strong
 against the city, and overthrow it: and encourage thou him.
11:26 And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband
 was dead, she mourned for her husband.
11:27 And when the mourning was past, David sent and brought her
 to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son. But
 the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.
12:1 And the LORD sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and
 said to him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and
 the other poor.
12:2 The rich [man] had very numerous flocks and herds:
12:3 But the poor [man] had nothing save one little ewe-lamb,
 which he had bought and nourished: and it grew up together with
 him, and with his children: it fed of his own meat, and drank
 of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was to him as a
 daughter.
12:4 And there came a traveler to the rich man, and he spared to
 take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the
 way-faring man that had come to him; but took the poor man's
 lamb, and dressed it for the man that had come to him.
12:5 And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and
 he said to Nathan, [As] the LORD liveth, the man that hath done
 this [thing] shall surely die:
12:6 And he shall restore the lamb four-fold, because he did
 this thing, and because he had no pity.
12:7 And Nathan said to David, Thou [art] the man. Thus saith
 the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I
 delivered thee from the hand of Saul;
12:8 And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives
 into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah;
 and if [that had been] too little, I would moreover have given
 to thee such and such things.
12:9 Why hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do
 evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the
 sword, and hast taken his wife [to be] thy wife, and hast slain
 him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
12:10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thy house;
 because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah
 the Hittite to be thy wife.
12:11 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against
 thee out of thy own house, and I will take thy wives before thy
 eyes, and give [them] to thy neighbor, and he shall lie with
 thy wives in the sight of this sun.
12:12 For thou didst [it] secretly: but I will do this thing
 before all Israel, and before the sun.
12:13 And David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD.
 And Nathan said to David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin;
 thou shalt not die.
12:14 But, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion
 to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also [that
 is] born to thee shall surely die.
12:15 And Nathan departed to his house. And the LORD struck the
 child that Uriah's wife bore to David, and it was very sick.
12:16 David therefore besought God for the child; and David
 fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.
12:17 And the elders of his house arose, [and went] to him, to
 raise him from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat
 bread with them.
12:18 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child
 died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the
 child was dead: for they said, Behold while the child was yet
 alive, we spoke to him, and he would not hearken to our voice:
 how will he then be grieved, if we tell him that the child is
 dead?
12:19 But when David saw that his servants whispered, David
 perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said to his
 servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead.
12:20 Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed
 [himself], and changed his apparel, and came into the house of
 the LORD, and worshiped: then he came to his own house; and
 when he required, they set bread before him, and he ate.
12:21 Then said his servants to him, What thing [is] this that
 thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, [while
 it was] alive; but after the child was dead, thou didst rise
 and eat bread.
12:22 And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted, and
 wept: for I said, Who can tell [whether] God will be gracious
 to me, that the child may live?
12:23 But now he is dead, Why should I fast? can I bring him
 back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.
12:24 And David comforted Bath-sheba his wife, and went in to
 her, and lay with her: and she bore a son, and he called his
 name Solomon: and the LORD loved him.
12:25 And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he
 called his name Jedidiah, because of the LORD.
12:26 And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon,
 and took the royal city.
12:27 And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought
 against Rabbah, and have taken the city of waters.
12:28 Now therefore collect the rest of the people, and encamp
 against the city, and take it: lest I take the city, and it be
 called after my name.
12:29 And David collected all the people, and went to Rabbah,
 and fought against it, and took it.
12:30 And he took their king's crown from off his head, the
 weight of which [was] a talent of gold with the precious
 stones: and it was [set] on David's head. And he brought forth
 the spoil of the city in great abundance.
12:31 And he brought forth the people that [were] in it, and put
 [them] under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of
 iron, and made them pass through the brick-kiln: and thus he
 did to all the cities of the children of Ammon. So David and
 all the people returned to Jerusalem.
13:1 And it came to pass after this, that Absalom the son of
 David had a fair sister, whose name [was] Tamar; and Amnon the
 son of David loved her.
13:2 And Amnon was so afflicted, that he fell sick for his
 sister Tamar; for she [was] a virgin; and Amnon thought it hard
 for him to do any thing to her.
13:3 But Amnon had a friend, whose name [was] Jonadab, the son
 of Shimeah David's brother: and Jonadab [was] a very subtil
 man.
13:4 And he said to him, Why [art] thou, [being] the king's son,
 pining from day to day? wilt thou not tell me? And Amnon said
 to him, I love Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister.
13:5 And Jonadab said to him, Lay thee down on thy bed, and make
 thyself sick: and when thy father cometh to see thee, say to
 him, I pray thee, let my sister Tamar come, and give me food,
 and dress the food in my sight, that I may see [it], and eat
 [it] at her hand.
13:6 So Amnon lay down and made himself sick: and when the king
 came to see him, Amnon said to the king, I pray thee, let Tamar
 my sister come, and make for me a couple of cakes in my sight,
 that I may eat at her hand.
13:7 Then David sent home to Tamar, saying, Go now to thy
 brother Amnon's house, and dress meat for him.
13:8 So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house; and he was laid
 down. And she took flour, and kneaded [it], and made cakes in
 his sight, and baked the cakes.
13:9 And she took a pan, and poured [them] out before him; but
 he refused to eat. And Amnon said, Have out all men from me.
 And they went out every man from him.
13:10 And Amnon said to Tamar, Bring the food into the chamber,
 that I may eat from thy hand. And Tamar took the cakes which
 she had made, and brought [them] into the chamber to Amnon her
 brother.
13:11 And when she had brought [them] to him to eat, he took
 hold of her, and said to her, Come, lie with me, my sister.
13:12 And she answered him, Nay, my brother, do not force me;
 for no such thing ought to be done in Israel: do not thou this
 folly.
13:13 And I, whither shall I cause my shame to go? and as for
 thee, thou wilt be as one of the fools in Israel. Now
 therefore, I pray thee, speak to the king; for he will not
 withhold me from thee.
13:14 Howbeit, he would not hearken to her voice: but being
 stronger than she, forced her, and lay with her.
13:15 Then Amnon hated her exceedingly; so that the hatred with
 which he hated her [was] greater than the love with which he
 had loved her. And Amnon said to her, Arise, be gone.
13:16 And she said to him, [There is] no cause: this evil in
 sending me away [is] greater than the other that thou didst to
 me. But he would not hearken to her.
13:17 Then he called his servant that ministered to him, and
 said, Put now this [woman] out from me, and bolt the door after
 her.
13:18 And [she had] a garment of divers colors upon her: for
 with such robes were the king's daughters [that were] virgins
 appareled. Then his servant brought her out, and bolted the
 door after her.
13:19 And Tamar put ashes on her head, and rent her garment of
 divers colors that [was] on her, and laid her hand on her head,
 and went on crying.
13:20 And Absalom her brother said to her, Hath Amnon thy
 brother been with thee? but hold now thy peace, my sister: he
 [is] thy brother; regard not this thing. So Tamar remained
 desolate in her brother Absalom's house.
13:21 But when king David heard of all these things, he was very
 wroth.
13:22 And Absalom spoke to his brother Amnon neither good nor
 bad: for Absalom hated Amnon, because he had forced his sister
 Tamar.
13:23 And it came to pass after two full years, that Absalom had
 sheep-shearers in Baal-hazor, which [is] beside Ephraim: and
 Absalom invited all the king's sons.
13:24 And Absalom came to the king, and said, Behold now, thy
 servant hath sheep-shearers; let the king, I beseech thee, and
 his servants go with thy servant.
13:25 And the king said to Absalom, Nay, my son, let us not all
 now go, lest we be chargeable to thee. And he pressed him: yet
 he would not go, but blessed him.
13:26 Then said Absalom, If not, I pray thee, let my brother
 Amnon go with us. And the king said to him, Why should he go
 with thee?
13:27 But Absalom pressed him that he should let Amnon and all
 the king's sons go with him.
13:28 Now Absalom had commanded his servants, saying, Mark ye
 now when Amnon's heart is merry with wine, and when I say to
 you, Smite Amnon; then kill him, fear not: have I not commanded
 you? be courageous, and be valiant.
13:29 And the servants of Absalom did to Amnon as Absalom had
 commanded. Then all the king's sons arose, and every man rode
 upon his mule, and fled.
13:30 And it came to pass, while they were in the way, that
 information came to David, saying, Absalom hath slain all the
 king's sons, and there is not one of them left.
13:31 Then the king arose, and tore his garments, and lay on the
 earth; and all his servants stood by with their clothes rent.
13:32 And Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David's brother, answered
 and said, Let not my lord suppose [that] they have slain all
 the young men the king's sons; for Amnon only is dead: for by
 the appointment of Absalom this hath been determined from the
 day that he forced his sister Tamar.
13:33 Now therefore let not my lord the king take the thing to
 his heart, to think that all the king's sons are dead: for
 Amnon only is dead.
13:34 But Absalom fled. And the young man that kept the watch
 lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold, there came many
 people by the way of the hillside behind him.
13:35 And Jonadab said to the king, Behold, the king's sons
 come; as thy servant said, so it is.
13:36 And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of
 speaking, that behold, the king's sons came, and lifted up
 their voice and wept: and the king also and all his servants
 wept exceedingly.
13:37 But Absalom fled, and went to Talmai, the son of Ammihud,
 king of Geshur. And [David] mourned for his son every day.
13:38 So Absalom fled, and went to Geshur, and was there three
 years.
13:39 And [the soul of] king David longed to go forth to
 Absalom: for he was comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was
 dead.
14:1 Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's heart
 [was] towards Absalom.
14:2 And Joab sent to Tekoah, and brought thence a wise woman,
 and said to her, I pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner,
 and put on now mourning apparel, and anoint not thyself with
 oil, but be as a woman that had a long time mourned for the
 dead:
14:3 And come to the king, and speak in this manner to him. So
 Joab put the words in her mouth.
14:4 And when the woman of Tekoah spoke to the king, she fell on
 her face to the ground, and did obeisance, and said, Help, O
 king.
14:5 And the king said to her, What aileth thee? And she
 answered, I [am] indeed a widow woman, and my husband is dead.
14:6 And thy handmaid had two sons, and they two strove together
 in the field, and [there was] none to part them, but the one
 smote the other and slew him.
14:7 And behold, the whole family hath risen against thy
 handmaid, and they said, Deliver him that smote his brother,
 that we may kill him, for the life of his brother whom he slew;
 and we will destroy the heir also: and so they will quench my
 coal which is left, and will not leave to my husband [neither]
 name nor remainder upon the earth.
14:8 And the king said to the woman, Go to thy house, and I will
 give charge concerning thee.
14:9 And the woman of Tekoah said to the king, My lord, O king,
 the iniquity [be] on me, and on my father's house: and the king
 and his throne [be] guiltless.
14:10 And the king said, Whoever saith [aught] to thee, bring
 him to me, and he shall not touch thee any more.
14:11 Then said she, I pray thee, let the king remember the LORD
 thy God, that thou wouldest not suffer the revengers of blood
 to destroy any more, lest they destroy my son. And he said,
 [As] the LORD liveth, there shall not one hair of thy son fall
 to the earth.
14:12 Then the woman said, Let thy handmaid, I pray thee, speak
 [one] word to my lord the king. And he said, Say on.
14:13 And the woman said, Why then hast thou thought such a
 thing against the people of God? for the king doth speak this
 thing as one who is faulty, in that the king doth not bring
 home again his banished.
14:14 For we must needs die, and [are] as water spilt on the
 ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God
 respect [any] person: yet doth he devise means, that his
 banished be not expelled from him.
14:15 Now therefore that I have come to speak of this thing to
 my lord the king, [it is] because the people have made me
 afraid: and thy handmaid said, I will now speak to the king; it
 may be that the king will perform the request of his handmaid.
14:16 For the king will hear, to deliver his handmaid from the
 hand of the man [that would] destroy me and my son together out
 of the inheritance of God.
14:17 Then thy handmaid said, The word of my lord the king, will
 now be comfortable: for as an angel of God, so [is] my lord the
 king to discern good and bad: therefore the LORD thy God will
 be with thee.
14:18 Then the king answered and said to the woman, Hide not
 from me, I pray thee, the thing that I shall ask thee. And the
 woman said, Let my lord the king now speak.
14:19 And the king said, [Is not] the hand of Joab with thee in
 all this? And the woman answered and said, [As] thy soul
 liveth, my lord the king, none can turn to the right hand or to
 the left from aught that my lord the king hath spoken: for thy
 servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these words in the
 mouth of thy handmaid:
14:20 To bring about this form of speech hath thy servant Joab
 done this thing: and my lord [is] wise, according to the wisdom
 of an angel of God, to know all [things] that [are] on the
 earth.
14:21 And the king said to Joab, Behold now, I have done this
 thing: go therefore, bring the young man Absalom again.
14:22 And Joab fell to the ground on his face, and bowed
 himself, and thanked the king: and Joab said, To-day thy
 servant knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight, my lord,
 O king, in that the king hath fulfilled the request of his
 servant.
14:23 So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to
 Jerusalem.
14:24 And the king said, Let him turn to his own house, and let
 him not see my face. So Absalom returned to his own house, and
 saw not the king's face.
14:25 But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as
 Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the
 crown of his head there was no blemish in him.
14:26 And when he polled his head, (for it was at every year's
 end that he polled [it]: because [the hair] was heavy on him,
 therefore he polled it:) he weighed the hair of his head at two
 hundred shekels after the king's weight.
14:27 And to Absalom there were born three sons, and one
 daughter, whose name [was] Tamar: she was a woman of a fair
 countenance.
14:28 So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, and saw not
 the king's face.
14:29 Therefore Absalom sent for Joab, that he might send him to
 the king; but he would not come to him: and when he sent again
 the second time, he would not come.
14:30 Therefore he said to his servants, See, Joab's field is
 near mine, and he hath barley there; go and set it on fire. And
 Absalom's servants set the field on fire.
14:31 Then Joab arose, and came to Absalom, to [his] house, and
 said to him, Why have thy servants set my field on fire?
14:32 And Absalom answered Joab, Behold, I sent to thee, saying,
 Come hither, that I may send thee to the king, to say, Why am I
 come from Geshur? it [had been] good for me [had I been] there
 still: now therefore let me see the king's face; and if there
 is [any] iniquity in me, let him kill me.
14:33 So Joab came to the king, and told him: and when he had
 called for Absalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on
 his face to the ground before the king: and the king kissed
 Absalom.
15:1 And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him
 chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him.
15:2 And Absalom rose early, and stood beside the way of the
 gate: and it was [so], that when any man that had a controversy
 came to the king for judgment, then Absalom called to him, and
 said, Of what city [art] thou? And he said, Thy servant [is]
 one of the tribes of Israel.
15:3 And Absalom said to him, See, thy matters [are] good and
 right; but [there is] no man [deputed] by the king to hear
 thee.
15:4 Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the
 land, that every man who hath any suit or cause might come to
 me, and I would do him justice!
15:5 And it was [so], that when any man came nigh [to him] to do
 him obeisance, he put forth his hand, and took him, and kissed
 him.
15:6 And in this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to
 the king for judgment: so Absalom stole the hearts of the men
 of Israel.
15:7 And it came to pass after forty years, that Absalom said to
 the king, I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I have
 vowed to the LORD, in Hebron.
15:8 For thy servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in
 Syria, saying, If the LORD shall bring me again indeed to
 Jerusalem, then I will serve the LORD.
15:9 And the king said to him, Go in peace, So he arose, and
 went to Hebron.
15:10 But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of
 Israel, saying, As soon as ye hear the sound of the trumpet,
 then ye shall say, Absalom reigneth in Hebron.
15:11 And with Absalom went two hundred men from Jerusalem,
 [that were] called; and they went in their simplicity, and they
 knew not any thing.
15:12 And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's
 counselor, from his city, [even] from Giloh, while he offered
 sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong; for the people
 increased continually with Absalom.
15:13 And there came a messenger to David, saying, The hearts of
 the men of Israel are after Absalom.
15:14 And David said to all his servants that [were] with him at
 Jerusalem, Arise, and let us flee; for we shall not [else]
 escape from Absalom: make speed to depart, lest he should
 overtake us suddenly, and bring evil upon us, and smite the
 city with the edge of the sword.
15:15 And the king's servants said to the king, Behold, thy
 servants [are ready to do] whatever my lord the king shall
 appoint.
15:16 And the king went forth, and all his household after him.
 And the king left ten women [who were] concubines to keep the
 house.
15:17 And the king went forth, and all the people after him, and
 tarried in a place that was far off.
15:18 And all his servants passed on by his side; and all the
 Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six
 hundred men who came after him from Gath, passed on before the
 king.
15:19 Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Why goest thou
 also with us? return to thy place, and abide with the king; for
 thou [art] a stranger, and also an exile.
15:20 Whereas thou camest [but] yesterday, should I this day
 make thee go up and down with us? seeing I go whither I may;
 return thou, and take back thy brethren: mercy and truth [be]
 with thee.
15:21 And Ittai answered the king, and said, [As] the LORD
 liveth, and [as] my lord the king liveth, surely in what place
 my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there
 also will thy servant be.
15:22 And David said to Ittai, Go and pass over. And Ittai the
 Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones
 that [were] with him.
15:23 And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the
 people passed over: the king also himself passed over the brook
 Kidron, and all the people passed over, towards the way of the
 wilderness.
15:24 And lo, Zadok also, and all the Levites [were] with him
 bearing the ark of the covenant of God: and they set down the
 ark of God; and Abiathar went up, until all the people had done
 passing out of the city.
15:25 And the king said to Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into
 the city: if I shall find favor in the eyes of the LORD, he
 will bring me again, and show me [both] it, and his habitation:
15:26 But if he shall thus say, I have no delight in thee;
 behold, [here am] I, let him do to me as seemeth good to him.
15:27 The king said also to Zadok the priest, [Art not] thou a
 seer? return into the city in peace, and your two sons with
 you, Ahimaaz thy son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar.
15:28 See, I will tarry in the plain of the wilderness, until
 word shall come from you to certify me.
15:29 Zadok therefore and Abiathar carried the ark of God again
 to Jerusalem: and they tarried there.
15:30 And David went up by the ascent of [mount] Olivet, and
 wept as he went, and had his head covered, and he went
 barefoot: and all the people that [were] with him covered every
 man his head, and they went up, weeping as they went.
15:31 And [one] told David, saying, Ahithophel [is] among the
 conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I pray thee,
 turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.
15:32 And it came to pass, that [when] David had come to the top
 [of the mount], where he worshiped God, behold, Hushai the
 Archite came to meet him with his coat rent, and earth upon his
 head;
15:33 To whom David said, If thou shalt pass on with me, then
 thou wilt be a burden to me:
15:34 But if thou shalt return to the city, and say to Absalom,
 I will be thy servant, O king; [as] I [have been] thy father's
 servant hitherto, so [will] I now also [be] thy servant: then
 mayest thou for me defeat the counsel of Ahithophel.
15:35 And [hast thou] not there with thee Zadok and Abiathar the
 priests? therefore it shall be, [that] whatever thing thou
 shalt hear out of the king's house, thou shalt tell [it] to
 Zadok and Abiathar the priests.
15:36 Behold, [they have] there with them their two sons,
 Ahimaaz Zadok's [son], and Jonathan Abiathar's [son]; and by
 them ye shall send to me every thing that ye can hear.
15:37 So Hushai David's friend came into the city, and Absalom
 came into Jerusalem.
16:1 And when David was a little past the top [of the hill],
 behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple
 of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred [loaves] of bread,
 and a hundred bunches of raisins, and a hundred of summer
 fruits, and a bottle of wine.
16:2 And the king said to Ziba, What meanest thou by these? And
 Ziba said, The asses [are] for the king's household to ride on;
 and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and
 the wine, that such as are faint in the wilderness may drink.
16:3 And the king said, And where [is] thy master's son? And
 Ziba said to the king, Behold, he abideth at Jerusalem: for he
 said, To-day shall the house of Israel restore to me the
 kingdom of my father.
16:4 Then said the king to Ziba, Behold, thine [are] all that
 [pertained] to Mephibosheth. And Ziba said, I humbly beseech
 thee [that] I may find grace in thy sight, my lord, O king.
16:5 And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came
 out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name [was]
 Shimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he
 came.
16:6 And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of
 king David: and all the people and all the mighty men [were] on
 his right hand and on his left.
16:7 And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out,
 thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial:
16:8 The LORD hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house
 of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the LORD hath
 delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and
 behold, thou [art taken] in thy mischief, because thou [art] a
 bloody man.
16:9 Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah to the king, Why
 should this dead dog curse my lord the king? let me go over, I
 pray thee, and take off his head.
16:10 And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of
 Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the LORD hath said to him,
 Curse David. Who shall then say, Why hast thou done so?
16:11 And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants,
 Behold, my son, who came forth from my bowels, seeketh my life:
 how much more now [may this] Benjaminite [do it]? let him
 alone, and let him curse; for the LORD hath bidden him.
16:12 It may be that the LORD will look on my affliction, and
 that the LORD will requite me good for his cursing this day.
16:13 And as David and his men went by the way, Shimei went
 along on the hill's side over against him, and cursed as he
 went, and threw stones at him, and cast dust.
16:14 And the king, and all the people that [were] with him,
 came weary, and refreshed themselves there.
16:15 And Absalom, and all the people the men of Israel, came to
 Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him.
16:16 And it came to pass, when Hushai the Archite, David's
 friend, had come to Absalom, that Hushai said to Absalom, God
 save the king, God save the king.
16:17 And Absalom said to Hushai, [Is] this thy kindness to thy
 friend? why wentest thou not with thy friend?
16:18 And Hushai said to Absalom, Nay; but whom the LORD, and
 this people, and all the men of Israel choose, his will I be,
 and with him will I abide.
16:19 And again, whom should I serve? [should I] not [serve] in
 the presence of his son? as I have served in thy father's
 presence, so will I be in thy presence.
16:20 Then said Absalom to Ahithophel, Give counsel among you
 what we shall do.
16:21 And Ahithophel said to Absalom, Go in to thy father's
 concubines, which he hath left to keep the house; and all
 Israel shall hear that thou art abhorred by thy father: then
 shall the hands of all that [are] with thee be strong.
16:22 So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house;
 and Absalom went in to his father's concubines in the sight of
 all Israel.
16:23 And the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counseled in those
 days, [was] as if a man had inquired at the oracle of God: so
 [was] all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with
 Absalom.
17:1 Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, Let me now choose out
 twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David
 this night;
17:2 And I will come upon him while he [is] weary and
 weak-handed, and will make him afraid: and all the people that
 [are] with him shall flee; and I will smite the king only:
17:3 And I will bring back all the people to thee: the man whom
 thou seekest [is] as if all returned: [so] all the people shall
 be in peace.
17:4 And the saying, pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of
 Israel.
17:5 Then said Absalom, Call now Hushai the Archite also, and
 let us hear likewise what he saith.
17:6 And when Hushai had come to Absalom, Absalom spoke to him,
 saying, Ahithophel hath spoken after this manner: shall we do
 [after] his saying? if not, speak thou.
17:7 And Hushai said to Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel
 hath given, [is] not good at this time.
17:8 For, said Hushai, thou knowest thy father and his men, that
 they [are] mighty men, and they [are] chafed in their minds, as
 a bear robbed of her whelps in the field: and thy father [is] a
 man of war, and will not lodge with the people.
17:9 Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some [other]
 place: and it will come to pass, when some of them [are]
 overthrown at the first, that whosoever heareth it will say,
 There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom.
17:10 And he also [that is] valiant, whose heart [is] as the
 heart of a lion, will utterly melt: for all Israel knoweth that
 thy father [is] a mighty man, and [they] who [are] with him
 [are] valiant men.
17:11 Therefore I counsel that all Israel should be generally
 gathered to thee, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, as the sand that
 [is] by the sea for multitude; and that thou shouldst go to
 battle in thy own person.
17:12 So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be
 found, and we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the
 ground: and of him and of all the men that [are] with him there
 shall not be left so much as one.
17:13 Moreover, if he shall have entered into a city, then shall
 all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into
 the river, until there is not one small stone found there.
17:14 And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of
 Hushai the Archite [is] better than the counsel of Ahithophel.
 For the LORD had appointed to defeat the good counsel of
 Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon
 Absalom.
17:15 Then said Hushai to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests,
 Thus and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of
 Israel; and thus and thus have I counseled.
17:16 Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, Lodge
 not this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily
 pass over; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people
 that [are] with him.
17:17 Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by En-rogel; for they
 might not be seen to come into the city: and a maid servant
 went and told them; and they went and told king David.
17:18 Nevertheless, a lad saw them, and told Absalom: but they
 went both of them away quickly, and came to the house of a man
 in Bahurim, who had a well in his court; into which they
 descended.
17:19 And the woman took and spread a covering over the well's
 mouth, and spread ground corn upon it; and the thing was not
 known.
17:20 And when Absalom's servants came to the woman to the
 house, they said, Where [is] Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the
 woman said to them, they have gone over the brook of water. And
 when they had sought and could not find [them], they returned
 to Jerusalem.
17:21 And it came to pass, after they had departed, that they
 came out of the well, and went and told king David, and said to
 David, Arise, and pass quickly over the water: for thus hath
 Ahithophel counseled against you.
17:22 Then David arose, and all the people that [were] with him,
 and they passed over Jordan: by the morning light there lacked
 not one of them that had not gone over Jordan.
17:23 And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed,
 he saddled [his] ass, and arose, and went home to his house, to
 his city, and put his household in order, and hanged himself,
 and died. and was buried in the sepulcher of his father.
17:24 Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed over
 Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.
17:25 And Absalom made Amasa captain of the host instead of
 Joab: which Amasa [was] a man's son, whose name [was] Ithra, an
 Israelite, that went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash,
 sister to Zeruiah, Joab's mother.
17:26 So Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead.
17:27 And it came to pass, when David had come to Mahanaim, that
 Shobi the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and
 Machir the son of Ammiel of Lo-debar, and Barzillai the
 Gileadite of Rogelim,
17:28 Brought beds, and basins, and earthen vessels, and wheat,
 and barley, and flour, and parched [corn], and beans, and
 lentils, and parched [pulse],
17:29 And honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of cows, for
 David, and for the people that [were] with him, to eat: for
 they said, The people [are] hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in
 the wilderness.
18:1 And David numbered the people that [were] with him, and set
 over them captains of thousands and captains of hundreds.
18:2 And David sent forth a third part of the people under the
 hand of Joab, and a third part under the hand of Abishai the
 son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, and a third part under the hand
 of Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the people, I will
 surely go forth with you myself also.
18:3 But the people answered, Thou shalt not go forth: for if we
 flee away, they will not care for us; neither if half of us
 die, will they care for us: but now [thou art] worth ten
 thousand of us: therefore now [it is] better that thou shouldst
 succor us out of the city.
18:4 And the king said to them, What seemeth to you best I will
 do. And the king stood by the gate side, and all the people
 came out by hundreds and by thousands.
18:5 And the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying,
 [Deal] gently for my sake with the young man, [even] with
 Absalom. And all the people heard when the king gave all the
 captains charge concerning Absalom.
18:6 So the people went out into the field against Israel: and
 the battle was in the wood of Ephraim;
18:7 Where the people of Israel were slain before the servants
 of David, and there was there a great slaughter that day of
 twenty thousand [men].
18:8 For the battle was there scattered over the face of all the
 country: and the wood devoured more people that day than the
 sword devoured.
18:9 And Absalom met the servants of David. And Absalom rode
 upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a
 great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was
 suspended between the heaven and the earth; and the mule that
 [was] under him went away.
18:10 And a certain man saw [it], and told Joab, and said,
 Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak.
18:11 And Joab said to the man that told him, And behold, thou
 sawest [him], and why didst thou not smite him there to the
 ground? and I would have given thee ten [shekels] of silver,
 and a girdle.
18:12 And the man said to Joab, Though I should receive a
 thousand [shekels] of silver in my hand, [yet] would I not put
 forth my hand against the king's son: for in our hearing the
 king charged thee and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Beware that
 none [touch] the young man Absalom.
18:13 Otherwise I should have wrought falsehood against my own
 life: for there is no matter hid from the king, and thou
 thyself wouldst have set thyself against [me].
18:14 Then said Joab, I may not tarry thus with thee. And he
 took three darts in his hand, and thrust them through the heart
 of Absalom, while he [was] yet alive in the midst of the oak.
18:15 And ten young men that bore Joab's armor compassed about
 and smote Absalom, and slew him.
18:16 And Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from
 pursuing Israel: for Joab restrained the people.
18:17 And they took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit in
 the wood, and laid a very great heap of stones upon him: and
 all Israel fled every one to his tent.
18:18 Now Absalom in his life-time had taken and raised for
 himself a pillar, which [is] in the king's dale: for he said, I
 have no son to keep my name in remembrance: and he called the
 pillar after his own name: and it is called to this day,
 Absalom's place.
18:19 Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok, Let me now run, and
 inform the king, how the LORD hath avenged himself of his
 enemies.
18:20 And Joab said to him, Thou shalt not bear tidings this
 day, but thou shalt bear tidings another day: but this day thou
 shalt bear no tidings, because the king's son is dead.
18:21 Then said Joab to Cushi, Go, tell the king what thou hast
 seen. And Cushi bowed himself to Joab, and ran.
18:22 Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok yet again to Joab, But
 however, let me also, I pray thee, run after Cushi. And Joab
 said, Why wilt thou run, my son, seeing that thou hast no
 tidings ready?
18:23 But however, [said he], let me run. And he said to him,
 Run. Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and outran
 Cushi.
18:24 And David sat between the two gates: and the watchman went
 up to the roof over the gate to the wall, and lifted up his
 eyes, and looked, and behold a man running alone.
18:25 And the watchman called, and told the king. And the king
 said, If he [is] alone [there is] tidings in his mouth. And he
 came apace, and drew near.
18:26 And the watchman saw another man running: and the watchman
 called to the porter, and said, Behold [another] man running
 alone. And the king said, He also bringeth tidings.
18:27 And the watchman said, I think the running of the foremost
 is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok. And the king
 said, He [is] a good man, and cometh with good news.
18:28 And Ahimaaz called, and said to the king, All is well. And
 he fell down to the earth upon his face before the king, and
 said, Blessed [be] the LORD thy God, who hath delivered up the
 men that raised their hand against my lord the king.
18:29 And the king said, Is the young man Absalom safe? And
 Ahimaaz answered, When Joab sent the king's servant, and [me]
 thy servant, I saw a great tumult, but I knew not what [it
 was].
18:30 And the king said [to him], Turn aside, [and] stand here.
 And he turned aside, and stood still.
18:31 And behold, Cushi came; and Cushi said, Tidings, my lord
 the king: for the LORD hath avenged thee this day of all them
 that rose up against thee.
18:32 And the king said to Cushi, [Is] the young man Absalom
 safe? And Cushi answered, May the enemies of my lord the king,
 and all that rise against thee to do [thee] hurt, be as [that]
 young man [is].
18:33 And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber
 over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son
 Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! O that I had died for thee, O
 Absalom, my son, my son!
19:1 And it was told to Joab, Behold, the king weepeth and
 mourneth for Absalom.
19:2 And the victory that day was [turned] into mourning to all
 the people: for the people heard it said that day how the king
 was grieved for his son.
19:3 And the people withdrew by stealth that day into the city,
 as people being ashamed steal away when they flee in battle.
19:4 But the king covered his face, and the king cried with a
 loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!
19:5 And Joab came into the house to the king, and said, thou
 hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, who this
 day have saved thy life, and the lives of thy sons and of thy
 daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and the lives of thy
 concubines;
19:6 In that thou lovest thy enemies, and hatest thy friends.
 For thou hast declared this day, that thou regardest neither
 princes nor servants: for this day I perceive, that if Absalom
 had lived, and all we had died this day, then it had pleased
 thee well.
19:7 Now therefore arise, go forth, and speak comfortably to thy
 servants: for I swear by the LORD, if thou shalt not go forth,
 there will not tarry one with thee this night: and that will be
 worse to thee than all the evil that hath befallen thee from
 thy youth until now.
19:8 Then the king rose, and sat in the gate. And they told to
 all the people, saying, Behold, the king doth sit in the gate.
 And all the people came before the king: for Israel had fled
 every man to his tent.
19:9 And all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes
 of Israel, saying, The king saved us from the hand of our
 enemies, and he delivered us from the hand of the Philistines;
 and now he hath fled out of the land for Absalom.
19:10 And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle.
 Now therefore why speak ye not a word of bringing the king
 back?
19:11 And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests,
 saying, Speak to the elders of Judah, saying, Why are ye the
 last to bring the king back to his house? seeing the speech of
 all Israel is come to the king, [even] to his house.
19:12 Ye [are] my brethren, ye [are] my bones and my flesh: why
 then are ye the last to bring back the king?
19:13 And say ye to Amasa, [Art] thou not of my bone, and of my
 flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if thou be not captain
 of the host before me continually in the room of Joab.
19:14 And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as
 [the heart of] one man; so that they sent [this word] to the
 king, Return thou, and all thy servants.
19:15 So the king returned, and came to Jordan. And Judah came
 to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to conduct the king over
 Jordan.
19:16 And Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjaminite, who [was] of
 Bahurim, hasted and came down with the men of Judah to meet
 king David.
19:17 And [there were] a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and
 Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and
 his twenty servants with him; and they went over Jordan before
 the king.
19:18 And there went over a ferry-boat to carry over the king's
 household, and to do what he thought good. And Shimei the son
 of Gera fell down before the king, as he came over Jordan;
19:19 And said to the king, Let not my lord impute iniquity to
 me, neither do thou remember that which thy servant did
 perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem,
 that the king should take it to his heart.
19:20 For thy servant doth know that I have sinned: therefore
 behold, I have come the first this day of all the house of
 Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.
19:21 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, Shall
 not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the
 LORD'S anointed?
19:22 And David said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of
 Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries to me? shall
 there any man be put to death this day in Israel? for do not I
 know that I [am] this day king over Israel?
19:23 Therefore the king said to Shimei, Thou shalt not die. And
 the king swore to him.
19:24 And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the
 king, and had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard,
 nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until
 the day he came [again] in peace.
19:25 And it came to pass, when he had come to Jerusalem to meet
 the king, that the king said to him, Why didst thou not go with
 me, Mephibosheth?
19:26 And he answered, My lord, O king, my servant deceived me:
 for thy servant said, I will saddle me an ass, that I may ride
 on it, and go to the king; because thy servant [is] lame.
19:27 And he hath slandered thy servant to my lord the king; but
 my lord the king [is] as an angel of God: do therefore [what
 is] good in thy eyes.
19:28 For all [of] my father's house were but dead men before my
 lord the king: yet didst thou set thy servant among them that
 ate at thy own table. What right therefore have I yet to cry
 any more to the king?
19:29 And the king said to him, Why speakest thou any more of
 thy matters? I have said, Thou and Ziba divide the land.
19:30 And Mephibosheth said to the king, Yes, let him take all,
 forasmuch as my lord the king hath come again in peace to his
 own house.
19:31 And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim, and
 went over Jordan with the king, to conduct him over Jordan.
19:32 Now Barzillai was a very aged man, [even] eighty years
 old: and he had provided the king with sustenance while he lay
 at Mahanaim: for he [was] a very great man.
19:33 And the king said to Barzillai, Come thou over with me,
 and I will feed thee with me in Jerusalem.
19:34 And Barzillai said to the king, How long have I to live,
 that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?
19:35 I [am] this day eighty years old: [and] can I discern
 between good and evil? can thy servant taste what I eat or what
 I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing-men and
 singing-women? why then should thy servant be yet a burden to
 my lord the king?
19:36 Thy servant will go a little way over Jordan with the
 king: and why should the king recompense me with such a reward?
19:37 Let thy servant, I pray thee, return again, that I may die
 in my own city, [and be buried] by the grave of my father and
 of my mother. But behold thy servant Chimham; let him go over
 with my lord the king; and do to him what shall seem good to
 thee.
19:38 And the king answered, Chimham shall go over with me, and
 I will do to him that which shall seem good to thee: and
 whatever thou shalt require of me, [that] will I do for thee.
19:39 And all the people went over Jordan. And when the king had
 come over, the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him; and he
 returned to his own place.
19:40 Then the king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with
 him: and all the people of Judah conducted the king, and also
 half the people of Israel.
19:41 And behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and
 said to him, Why have our brethren the men of Judah stolen thee
 away, and have brought the king, and his household, and all
 David's men with him, over Jordan?
19:42 And all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel,
 Because the king [is] near of kin to us: why then are ye angry
 for this matter? have we eaten at all at the king's [cost]? or
 hath he given us any gift?
19:43 And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said,
 We have ten parts in the king, and we have also more [right] in
 David than ye: why then did ye despise us, that our advice
 should not be first had in bringing back our king? And the
 words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the
 men of Israel.
20:1 And there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name
 [was] Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite: and he blew a
 trumpet, and said, We have no part in David, neither have we
 inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to his tents, O
 Israel.
20:2 So every man of Israel, withdrawing from David, followed
 Sheba the son of Bichri: but the men of Judah adhered to their
 king, from Jordan even to Jerusalem.
20:3 And David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took
 the ten women [his] concubines, whom he had left to keep the
 house, and put them in custody, and fed them, but went not in
 to them. So they were shut up to the day of their death, living
 in widowhood.
20:4 Then said the king to Amasa, Assemble to me the men of
 Judah within three days, and be thou here present.
20:5 So Amasa went to assemble [the men of] Judah: but he
 tarried longer than the set time which he had appointed him.
20:6 And David said to Abishai, Now shall Sheba the son of
 Bichri do us more harm than [did] Absalom: take thou thy lord's
 servants, and pursue him, lest he get for himself fortified
 cities, and escape us.
20:7 And there went out after him Joab's men, and the
 Cherethites, and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men: and
 they went out of Jerusalem, to pursue after Sheba the son of
 Bichri.
20:8 When they [were] at the great stone which [is] in Gibeon,
 Amasa went before them. And Joab's garment that he had put on
 was girded to him, and upon it a girdle [with] a sword fastened
 upon his loins in its sheath; and as he went forth it fell out.
20:9 And Joab said to Amasa, [Art] thou in health, my brother?
 And Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss
 him.
20:10 But Amasa took no heed to the sword that [was] in Joab's
 hand: so he smote him in the fifth [rib], and shed out his
 bowels to the ground, and struck him not again; and he died. So
 Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of
 Bichri.
20:11 And one of Joab's men stood by him, and said, He that
 favoreth Joab, and he that [is] for David, [let him go] after
 Joab.
20:12 And Amasa wallowed in blood in the midst of the highway.
 And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he
 removed Amasa out of the highway into the field, and cast a
 cloth upon him, when he saw that every one that came by him
 stood still.
20:13 When he was removed out of the highway, all the people
 went on after Joab, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri.
20:14 And he went through all the tribes of Israel to Abel, and
 to Beth-maachah, and all the Berites: and they were assembled,
 and went also after him.
20:15 And they came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-maachah,
 and they cast up a bank against the city, and it stood in the
 trench: and all the people that [were] with Joab battered the
 wall, to throw it down.
20:16 Then cried a wise woman out of the city, Hear, hear; say,
 I pray you, to Joab, Come near hither, that I may speak with
 thee.
20:17 And when he was come near to her, the woman said, [Art]
 thou Joab? And he answered, I [am he]. Then she said to him,
 Hear the words of thy handmaid. And he answered, I do hear.
20:18 Then she spoke, saying, They were wont to speak in old
 time, saying, They will surely ask [counsel] at Abel: and so
 they ended [the matter].
20:19 I [am one of them that are] peaceable [and] faithful in
 Israel: thou seekest to destroy a city and a mother in Israel:
 why wilt thou swallow up the inheritance of the LORD?
20:20 And Joab answered and said, Far be it, far be it from me,
 that I should swallow up or destroy.
20:21 The matter [is] not so: but a man of mount Ephraim, Sheba
 the son of Bichri by name, hath lifted up his hand against the
 king, [even] against David: deliver him only, and I will depart
 from the city. And the woman said to Joab, Behold, his head
 shall be thrown to thee over the wall.
20:22 Then the woman went to all the people in her wisdom. And
 they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and cast [it]
 out to Joab. And he blew a trumpet, and they retired from the
 city, every man to his tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem to
 the king.
20:23 Now Joab [was] over all the host of Israel: and Benaiah
 the son of Jehoiada [was] over the Cherethites and over the
 Pelethites:
20:24 And Adoram [was] over the tribute: and Jehoshaphat the son
 of Ahilud [was] recorder:
20:25 And Sheva [was] scribe: and Zadok and Abiathar [were] the
 priests:
20:26 And Ira also the Jairite was a chief ruler about David.
21:1 Then there was a famine in the days of David three years,
 year after year; and David inquired of the LORD. And the LORD
 answered, [It is] for Saul, and for [his] bloody house, because
 he slew the Gibeonites.
21:2 And the king called the Gibeonites, and said to them; (now
 the Gibeonites [were] not of the children of Israel, but of the
 remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn
 to them: and Saul sought to slay them, in his zeal to the
 children of Israel and Judah.)
21:3 Wherefore David said to the Gibeonites, What shall I do for
 you? and with what shall I make the atonement, that ye may
 bless the inheritance of the LORD?
21:4 And the Gibeonites said to him, We will have no silver nor
 gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou kill
 any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, [that] will
 I do for you.
21:5 And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and
 that devised against us [that] we should be destroyed from
 remaining within the borders of Israel,
21:6 Let seven men of his sons be delivered to us, and we will
 hang them up to the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, [whom] the LORD
 chose. And the king said, I will give [them].
21:7 But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the
 son of Saul, because of the LORD'S oath that [was] between
 them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.
21:8 But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of
 Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the
 five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up
 for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite:
21:9 And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and
 they hanged them on the hill before the LORD: and they fell
 [all] seven together, and were put to death in the days of
 harvest, in the first [days], in the beginning of barley
 harvest.
21:10 And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread
 it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until
 water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the
 birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the
 field by night.
21:11 And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah the
 concubine of Saul had done.
21:12 And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of
 Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen
 them from the street of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had
 hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa:
21:13 And he brought up from thence the bones of Saul and the
 bones of Jonathan his son; and they gathered the bones of them
 that were hanged.
21:14 And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son they buried in
 the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulcher of Kish his
 father: and they performed all that the king commanded. And
 after that God was entreated for the land.
21:15 Moreover, the Philistines had yet war again with Israel;
 and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought
 against the Philistines: and David became faint.
21:16 And Ishbi-benob, who [was] of the sons of the giant, the
 weight of whose spear was three hundred [shekels] of brass in
 weight, he being girded with a new [sword], thought to have
 slain David.
21:17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succored him, and smote the
 Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him,
 saying, Thou shalt go out no more with us to battle, that thou
 mayest not extinguish the light of Israel.
21:18 And it came to pass after this, that there was again a
 battle with the Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the
 Hushathite slew Saph, who [was] of the sons of the giant.
21:19 And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines,
 where Elhanan the son of Jaareoregim, a Beth-lehemite, slew
 [the brother of] Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear
 [was] like a weaver's beam.
21:20 And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man of
 [great] stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on
 every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was
 born to the giant.
21:21 And when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimeah the
 brother of David slew him.
21:22 These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the
 hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.
22:1 And David spoke to the LORD the words of this song in the
 day [that] the LORD had delivered him from the hand of all his
 enemies, and from the hand of Saul:
22:2 And he said, The LORD [is] my rock, and my fortress, and my
 deliverer;
22:3 The God of my rock; in him will I trust: [he is] my shield,
 and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my
 preserver; thou savest me from violence.
22:4 I will call on the LORD, [who is] worthy to be praised: so
 shall I be saved from my enemies.
22:5 When the waves of death compassed me, the floods of
 ungodly-men made me afraid;
22:6 The sorrows of hell encompassed me; the snares of death
 seized me;
22:7 In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God:
 and he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry [entered]
 into his ears.
22:8 Then the earth shook and trembled: the foundations of
 heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth.
22:9 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of
 his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.
22:10 He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and darkness
 [was] under his feet.
22:11 And he rode upon a cherub, and flew: and he was seen upon
 the wings of the wind.
22:12 And he made darkness pavilions around him, dark waters,
 [and] thick clouds of the skies.
22:13 Through the brightness before him were coals of fire
 kindled.
22:14 The LORD thundered from heaven, and the most High uttered
 his voice.
22:15 And he sent out arrows, and scattered them; lightning, and
 discomfited them.
22:16 And the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations of
 the world were laid open, at the rebuking of the LORD, at the
 blast of the breath of his nostrils.
22:17 He sent from above, he took me; he drew me out of many
 waters;
22:18 He delivered me from my strong enemy, from them that hated
 me: for they were too strong for me.
22:19 They fell upon me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD
 was my support.
22:20 He brought me forth also into a large place: he delivered
 me, because he delighted in me.
22:21 The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness:
 according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.
22:22 For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not
 wickedly departed from my God.
22:23 For all his judgments [were] before me: and [as for] his
 statutes, I did not depart from them.
22:24 I was also upright before him, and have kept myself from
 my iniquity.
22:25 Therefore the LORD hath recompensed me according to my
 righteousness; according to my cleanness in his eye-sight.
22:26 With the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful, [and]
 with the upright man thou wilt show thyself upright.
22:27 With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure; and with the
 froward thou wilt contend.
22:28 And the afflicted people thou wilt save: but thy eyes
 [are] upon the haughty, [that] thou mayest bring [them] down.
22:29 For thou [art] my lamp, O LORD: and the LORD will lighten
 my darkness.
22:30 For by thee I have run through a troop: by my God have I
 leaped over a wall.
22:31 [As for] God, his way [is] perfect; the word of the LORD
 [is] tried: he [is] a buckler to all them that trust in him.
22:32 For who [is] God, save the LORD? and who [is] a rock, save
 our God?
22:33 God [is] my strength [and] power: and he maketh my way
 perfect.
22:34 He maketh my feet like hinds' [feet]: and setteth me upon
 my high places.
22:35 He teacheth my hands to war; so that a bow of steel is
 broken by my arms.
22:36 Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and
 thy gentleness hath made me great.
22:37 Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; so that my feet have
 not slipped.
22:38 I have pursued my enemies, and destroyed them; and turned
 not again until I had consumed them.
22:39 And I have consumed them, and wounded them, that they
 could not arise: yea, they have fallen under my feet.
22:40 For thou hast girded me with strength to battle: them that
 rose up against me hast thou subdued under me.
22:41 Thou hast also given me the necks of my enemies, that I
 might destroy them that hate me.
22:42 They looked, but [there was] none to save; [even] to the
 LORD, but he answered them not.
22:43 Then I beat them as small as the dust of the earth, I
 stamped them as the mire of the street, [and] spread them
 abroad.
22:44 Thou also hast delivered me from the strivings of my
 people, thou hast kept me [to be] head of the heathen: a people
 [which] I knew not shall serve me.
22:45 Strangers shall submit themselves to me: as soon as they
 hear, they shall be obedient to me.
22:46 Strangers shall fade away, and they shall tremble from
 their close places.
22:47 The LORD liveth; and blessed [be] my rock; and exalted be
 the God of the rock of my salvation.
22:48 It [is] God that avengeth me, and that bringeth down the
 people under me,
22:49 And that bringeth me forth from my enemies: thou also hast
 lifted me up on high above them that rose up against me: thou
 hast delivered me from the violent man.
22:50 Therefore I will give thanks to thee, O LORD, among the
 heathen, and I will sing praises to thy name.
22:51 [He is] the tower of salvation for his king: and [he]
 showeth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for
 evermore.
23:1 Now these [are] the last words of David. David the son of
 Jesse said, and the man [who was] raised on high, the anointed
 of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said,
23:2 The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, and his word [was] on
 my tongue.
23:3 The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me, He
 that ruleth over men [must be] just, ruling in the fear of God.
23:4 And [he shall be] as the light of the morning, [when] the
 sun riseth, [even] a morning without clouds; [as] the tender
 grass [springing] out of the earth by clear shining after rain.
23:5 Although my house [is] not so with God; yet he hath made
 with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all [things], and
 sure: for [this is] all my salvation, and all [my] desire,
 although he maketh [it] not to grow.
23:6 But [the sons] of Belial [shall be] all of them as thorns
 thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands:
23:7 But the man [that] shall touch them must be fenced with
 iron and the staff of a spear; and they shall be utterly burned
 with fire in the [same] place.
23:8 These [are] the names of the mighty men whom David had: The
 Tachmonite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains; the
 same [was] Adino the Eznite: [he lifted up his spear] against
 eight hundred, whom he slew at one time.
23:9 And after him [was] Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite,
 [one] of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the
 Philistines [that] were there assembled to battle, and the men
 of Israel had gone away:
23:10 He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was
 weary, and his hand adhered to the sword: and the LORD wrought
 a great victory that day; and the people returned after him
 only to plunder.
23:11 And after him [was] Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite.
 And the Philistines were collected into a troop, where was a
 piece of ground full of lentils: and the people fled from the
 Philistines.
23:12 But he stood in the midst of the ground, and defended it,
 and slew the Philistines: and the LORD wrought a great victory.
23:13 And three of the thirty chiefs went down, and came to
 David in the harvest time to the cave of Adullam: and the troop
 of the Philistines encamped in the valley of Rephaim.
23:14 And David [was] then in a hold, and the garrison of the
 Philistines [was] then [in] Beth-lehem.
23:15 And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me
 drink of the water of the well of Beth-lehem, which [is] by the
 gate!
23:16 And the three mighty men broke through the host of the
 Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Beth-lehem, that
 [was] by the gate, and took [it], and brought [it] to David:
 nevertheless he would not drink of it, but poured it out to the
 LORD.
23:17 And he said, Be it far from me, O LORD, that I should do
 this: [is not this] the blood of the men that went in jeopardy
 of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. These things
 did these three mighty men.
23:18 And Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was
 chief among three. And he lifted up his spear against three
 hundred, [and] slew [them], and had the name among three.
23:19 Was he not most honorable of three? therefore he was their
 captain: yet he attained not to the [first] three.
23:20 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man,
 of Kabzeel, who had done many acts, he slew two lion-like men
 of Moab: he went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a
 pit in time of snow:
23:21 And he slew an Egyptian, a goodly man: and the Egyptian
 had a spear in his hand; but he went down to him with a staff,
 and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian's hand, and slew him
 with his own spear.
23:22 These [things] did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and had a
 name among three mighty men.
23:23 He was more honorable than the thirty, but he attained not
 to the [first] three. And David set him over his guard.
23:24 Asahel the brother of Joab [was] one of the thirty;
 Elhanan the son of Dodo of Beth-lehem,
23:25 Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite,
23:26 Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite,
23:27 Abiezer the Anethothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite,
23:28 Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,
23:29 Heleb the son of Baanah, a Netophathite, Ittai the son of
 Ribai out of Gibeah of the children of Benjamin,
23:30 Benaiah the Pirathonite, Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash,
23:31 Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite,
23:32 Eliahba the Shaalbonite, of the sons of Jashen, Jonathan,
23:33 Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the
 Hararite,
23:34 Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maachathite,
 Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite,
23:35 Hezrai the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite,
23:36 Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani, the Gadite,
23:37 Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite, armor-bearer
 to Joab the son of Zeruiah,
23:38 Ira an Ithrite, Gareb an Ithrite,
23:39 Uriah the Hittite: thirty and seven in all.
24:1 And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel,
 and he moved David against them to say, Go number Israel and
 Judah.
24:2 For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, who
 [was] with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from
 Dan even to Beer-sheba, and number ye the people, that I may
 know the number of the people.
24:3 And Joab said to the king, Now the LORD thy God add to the
 people, how many soever they may be, a hundred-fold, and that
 the eyes of my lord the king may see [it]: but why doth my lord
 the king delight in this thing?
24:4 Notwithstanding the king's word prevailed against Joab, and
 against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of
 the host went out from the presence of the king, to number the
 people of Israel.
24:5 And they passed over Jordan, and pitched in Aroer, on the
 right side of the city that [lieth] in the midst of the river
 of Gad, and towards Jazer:
24:6 Then they came to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtim-hodshi;
 and they came to Dan-jaan, and about to Zidon,
24:7 And came to the strong hold of Tyre, and to all the cities
 of the Hivites, and of the Canaanites: and they went out to the
 south of Judah, [even] to Beer-sheba.
24:8 So when they had gone through all the land, they came to
 Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.
24:9 And Joab presented the sum of the number of the people to
 the king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand
 valiant men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah [were]
 five hundred thousand men.
24:10 And David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the
 people. And David said to the LORD, I have sinned greatly in
 what I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O LORD, take away
 the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.
24:11 For when David had risen in the morning, the word of the
 LORD came to the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying,
24:12 Go and say to David, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee
 three [things]; choose thee one of them, that I may [do it] to
 thee.
24:13 So Gad came to David, and told him, and said to him, Shall
 seven years of famine come upon thee in thy land? or wilt thou
 flee three months before thy enemies, while they pursue thee?
 or that there be three days' pestilence in thy land? Now
 consider, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent
 me.
24:14 And David said to Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall
 now into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies [are] great: and
 let me not fall into the hand of man.
24:15 So the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning
 even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from
 Dan even to Beer-sheba seventy thousand men.
24:16 And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem
 to destroy it, the LORD repented of the evil, and said to the
 angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thy
 hand. And the angel of the LORD was by the threshing-place of
 Araunah the Jebusite.
24:17 And David spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel that
 smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done
 wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thy hand, I
 pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house.
24:18 And Gad came that day to David, and said to him, Go up,
 rear an altar to the LORD in the threshing-floor of Araunah the
 Jebusite.
24:19 And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up as the
 LORD commanded.
24:20 And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants
 coming towards him: And Araunah went out, and bowed himself
 before the king on his face upon the ground.
24:21 And Araunah said, Why is my lord the king come to his
 servant? And David said, To buy the threshing-floor of thee, to
 build an altar to the LORD, that the plague may be stayed from
 the people.
24:22 And Araunah said to David, Let my lord the king take and
 offer up what [seemeth] good to him: behold, [here are] oxen
 for burnt-sacrifice, and threshing-instruments and [other]
 instruments of the oxen for wood.
24:23 All these [things] did Araunah, [as] a king, give to the
 king. And Araunah said to the king, The LORD thy God accept
 thee.
24:24 And the king said to Araunah, No; but I will surely buy
 [it] of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt-offerings
 to the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David
 bought the threshing-floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of
 silver.
24:25 And David built there an altar to the LORD, and offered
 burnt-offerings and peace-offerings. So the LORD was entreated
 for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.